Automobile road-bed.



No. 748,116 PATENTED NOV.3, 1903. R. T. VAN VALKENBURG. AUTOMOBILE ROAD BED.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 13, 1903.

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No. 748,116. PATENTED NOV. 3, 1908. R. T. VAN VALKENBURG. AUTOMOBILE ROAD BED.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 13. 1903.

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UNITED STATES Patented November 3, 1903.

PATENT ()FFICE.

RANDALL T. VAN VALKENBURG, OF LAPORTE, INDIANA, ASSIGNOR OE ONE-HALF TO CHARLES J. VAN VALKENBURG, OF MANCHESTER,

MICHIGAN.

AUTOMOBILE ROAD-BED.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 743,116, dated November 3, 1903.

Application filed July 13. 1903. Serial No.. 165,320. (No model.)

To aZZ whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, RANDALL TVAN VAL- KENBURG, a citizen of the United States, residing at Laporte, in the county of Laporte and State of Indiana, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Automobile Road-Beds; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to improvements in road-beds for vehicles, being more especially adapted for motor-vehicles, and has for its object to provide an inexpensive and durable construction wherein is formed a track for the vehicle-wheels to facilitate steering and prevent the vehicle jumping the track.

A further object is to provide an improved method of drainage for the road-bed and prevent the fiood-water backing up at highways or cross-roads; and with these and other ob jects in view the invention consists in the novel formation of the road-bed, as will be more fully described hereinafter, illustrated in the accompanying drawings, and finally pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective view of a portion of the road-bed at a highway or cross-road. Fig. 2 is a transverse section of the road-bed with a motor-vehicle mounted thereon. Fig. 3 is a transverse section through the road-bed at a crossing, and Fig. 4 is a detail in perspective of one of the plates which connects the tracks across the highway.

Making renewed reference to the drawings, wherein similar reference notations indicate like parts appearing in the several illustrations, and reference being had thereto, 1 designates the road-bed, which may be formed or constructed of cement, concrete, asphaltum or any other suitable material.

In forming the road-bed the side walls 2 thereof are preferably made inclined, so as to provide a broad substantial base which reduces the liability of lateral displacement to a minimum. These side walls rise to a height above the vehicle-tires sufficient to prevent the wheels of the vehicle from leaving the track and are spaced apart a distance which .is sufficient to accommodate the ordinary wheels of the vehicle engaging the inclined surfaces 3, which causes the vehicle to right itself when the turn has been made. These inner walls 3 merge into a concave track-surface 4, which is substantially semicircular in cross-section, and the inner edges 5 thereof rise to a slight distance above the central bed 6, which is also concave and forms a conduit for the water. In the arris formed by the two concave surfaces there is provided at suitable distances apart a number of recessed or cutaway portions 7, the lower surfaces of which are level with the lower sur-' faces of the concave tracks el, so that water accumulating in the tracks 4 may readily flow into the central concave bed portion 6, the bottom'of which drops below the surface of the track portions. The water may be drained from the bed portion 6 by means of the conduits 8, which communicate at their inner ends with vertically-directed traps 9 and extend horizontally beneath one of the track portions and open through the side wall, as at 10, whereby the road-bed is thoroughly drained.

In order that my improved form of roadbed will not form an obstruction to crossroads or highways and to prevent the roadbed being broken by horses and heavy vehicles traversing the highway,I have provided a novel construction for the crossings. In the highway, at the point of intersection with the road-bed, there is embedded a wooden tie 11, with a suitable cement base and coping 12, which may have a culvert 13 formed therein to prevent the water backing up at the sides of the road-bed. This tie 11 has the upper surface formed with concavities in alinement with the concaved bed and tracks of the roadbed; but the concaved portions in alinement with the tracks are preferably made with a less degree of concavity, so that heavily-loaded vehicles may easily cross the road-bed and bring its surface flush with the surface of the highway, and through this central filling 14 is formed a culvert 15, by means of which the water may pass from one side of the highway to the other. In the concave track portions of the tie there is fitted a plate 16, the central concavo-convexed portions of which lie in the concavities of the track portion, and the side flanges 17 project on opposite sides of the concave track and are pierced by suitable bolts or rods 18, fitted in the tie to hold the plate in place.

Having thus described my invention, What I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. A road-bed comprising an integral mass of material formed with concaved trackways and a central bed portion which falls below the surface of the tracks.

2. A road-bed comprisin g a base having side walls, concave tracks formed in the base adjacent the side walls, and a concave bed between the tracks.

3. Aroad-bed comprising an integral mass J of material formed with concaved trackways and a central bed portion which falls below the surface of the tracks, and means to drain water from the tracks to the central bed portion.

4. A road-bed comprising an integral mass of material formed with concaved trackways, upwardly-converging side walls on the outer sides of the tracks, and a concaved central bed portion which falls below the concaved tracks.

5. A road-bed provided with concaved tracks and a concaved bed portion between the tracks and means for draining water from the tracks to the concaved bed.

6. A road-bed provided with concaved tracks and a concaved bed portion between the tracks, recesses formed in the arris of the bed and tracks to permit the latter to be drained, and a conduit leading from the concaved bed through one wall of the road-bed.

7. The combinationwith the concaved track portions and a concaved bed between the tracks, of a tie arranged at the crossing and having concavities in its upper faces in alinement with the concaved bed and tracks, a filling for the central concave portion, and plates secured to the tie and having a concave portion in alinement with the tracks.

8. The combination with the concaved track portions and a concave bed between the tracks, of a tie arranged at the crossing and having concavities in its upper face in alinement with the concave bed and tracks, a fill- .ing for the central concave portion, plates secured to the tie and having a concave portion in alinement with the tracks, means to permit the water in the road-bed to pass the crossing and means formed in the bed for conducting the water therefrom.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

RANDALL T. VAN VALKENBURG; lVitnesses:

GEORGE OLTSOH, MAGGIE OLTSCH. 

